I admit, it's been a week since I have blogged. I have had family in from all over the country for a special family gathering. OK, enough said.
Now the market...we have been busy. That does not mean that prices are going up, they are not. But there is real movement. I will say this very clearly; a seller who wants to sell their property can absolutely accomplish that in North Queens. Prices are not as high as they were in 2007, but they are still higher than they were in 2006 and prior, and thats not bad, if you owned your home for over 10 years, given that from 1998 to 2006, most sellers experienced a doubling of their homes value, and in many cases even a little more! So even if your home is not worth more than it was in 2006, you still had an average of 10 percent annual increase in your homes value. There are very few investments today that give you that kind of return on your investment (unless you trusted Bernie Madoff, and you know where that woulda gotten you!). Buyers are out looking and offering on well priced homes, and sometimes even on homes that are not so well priced. In November, I had only 5 offers on my listed properties; now in February, I had over 14 offers on properties, and 11 listings sold.
Buyers know that the bottom of the market may continue for another 6 to 12 months, but it won't last forever. What makes our market so resilient, is the strong emphasis on home ownership for the cultures that purchase here, and the relative conservatism of the way our buyers spend money, other than on large purchases such as homes. Large down payments still exist, with strong credit credentials, and sellers should pay attention. Don't be offended by offers you think are too low. Keep in mind that the buyers of today, will never see 20 percent value increases annually. The way prices went up from 2004 to 2007 was a direct result of loosy goosey lending, over-leveraging of assets, and a profound disregard for actual affordability. Federal regulators and the banking industry won't let that kind of over inflation to happen again in such vastly short periods of time. So buyers now know that their property values will not increase significantly in the short run. It is what it is. Buyers are buying, and if you look around at the dearth of unsold inventory in Detroit, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, the list goes on, BUYING IS A GOOD THING. Want to sell your home? You can. Want to buy a home? You can. Find each other. Need help? Find me.
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